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Consulate sees spike in passport renewals
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Posted on Dec 02 2011
Nearly half the passports issued by the Philippine Consulate General as of November 2011 were applied between the release of the Commonwealth-only transitional worker rule and the expiration of umbrella permits.
Consulate records show that of the 3,611 passports issued from January to Nov. 30, 2011, a total of 1,799 were issued from Sept. 7 to Nov. 27.
The number of passports for September posted the highest at 779, followed by 689 for October and 331 as of Nov. 27.
Records also showed that the number of passports issued spiked in March, which was the scheduled Rota mobile consular services.
“The numbers show that a lot of the Filipinos in the CNMI were preparing for CW petitions, H1/H2 and other visa applications, and also for possible repatriation,” Consul General Medardo Macaraig told Saipan Tribune yesterday.
Macaraig noted the increase even in the number of those who availed of other consular services such as marriage applications because of the requirement to be legally married to enable a foreign worker to petition a spouse or child for CW-2 status; membership with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration; and requests for repatriation and legal assistance.
Since the release of the final worker rule, the Consulate has already repatriated 13 Filipinos, 15 have yet to be booked for a flight, another 15 are waiting for repatriation funding approval, while seven have yet to officially withdraw through writing their repatriation assistance requests, said Macaraig.
“I’m confident that most of the Filipinos here in the CNMI already have valid passports,” he added.
The Consul General noted, however, that they don’t expect to see an increase in the number of passport applications by 2012 since scores of Filipinos in the Commonwealth are leaving the islands for good.
Macaraig said the Consulate does not have any records on the number of Filipinos who have left the CNMI since the release of the final worker rule in September.
